This post has taken on a whole new relevance. One of the more unsung but pivotal figures in Editors fandom has passed away. He was called Gary, and he did and awful lot of taping. If you've ever listened to bootleg live recordings of Editors, particularly at the Archive, all the really good ones came from GaryUK. He sacrificed his time and money to help preserve the history of this little group that we all love so much, and made it easier for those around the world who couldn't attend to experience the magic.
As ever with these situations the only appropriate reaction is to go hug the ones you love a little bit tighter, and remind them you love them. We don't have the time not to. Safe travels, Gary. Thank you for everything.
Recorded by a brand new friend to the Archive called Michelle (thank you!), this show features Tom and Nic Willes playing at the Eric Morecambe Centre in Harpenden. For those of you who couldn't make the tour, and are curious as to what the new record will be sounding like, this is for you.
Back in the days before the pandemic switched off the world, Editors were due to play a festival over two nights. The idea for the first night was a standard Editors gig, with the second being an opportunity to re-imagine some of their back catalogue to give it a more danceable personality. Circumstances killed the idea as we all became shut-ins for a while, but I bring this up for a reason. There's always a reason ;)
This set list is a mixture of Editors and solo Tom, with a little bit of Smith and Burrows thrown in. This far into the adventure, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd heard all the Editors songs on the list. The challenge here, as with the abandoned festival show, was to adapt them enough to make them seem different even after their repeated exposure to an audience. The key variable being here is that there are only two people involved in the presentation, so could that even be possible?
Oh yes.
The main tactic seems to have been to find what best evokes an emotional response, with as little complication as possible. As an example, The Weight shouldn't work without that giant drum beat powering it along, as well as the strings. In this setting, it sounds like a different song. Much more ominous, but a gentle ominous.
Side note: I do think there's something wonderfully perverse about this track being played in the Eric Morecambe Centre. He was a famous comedian here in the UK, along with Ernie Wise and one of their signature songs which used to finish their TV specials was called Bring Me Sunshine. They were known for it, and the lyrics are remarkably positive and upbeat. "In this world where we live, there should be more happiness". The idea that Tom is singing "I promised myself, I wouldn't sing about death" in a venue built on laughter and Bring Me Sunshine is wonderful. As much as him playing a church and singing If there really was a God here, he'd have raised a hand by now.
There's something so pure in the notion of a man from a band who can play stadiums taking things all the way back to the beginning, to the part of the journey where they'll be hanging out at the merch table afterwards chatting with the audience. I wonder how all of this has affected his perspective on things, given he'll soon be back within the familiar surrounds of Editors? What did he learn, and what have we as fans learned from this tour?
Some things to listen out for; Tom vs the squeaky chair, the negative effects of saying "Woo!" to everything and the increased slickness of Tom's guitar tuning abilities. Enjoy the music ;)
MP3s
1. Deep Dive - download here
2. Life is for Living - download here
3. Blood - download here
4. The Weight - download here
5. The Weight of the World - download here
6. Broken Time - download here
7. Old TV Shows - download here
8. Papillon - download here
9. Lights - download here
10. The Phone Book - download here
11. How Many Times - download here
12. What is This Thing Called Love - download here
13. Northern Line - download here
14. Leave - download here
15. An End Has a Start - download here
16. Ocean of Night - download here
17. Lights of NYC - download here
18. Munich - download here
19. Endings Are Breaking My Heart - download here
20. Smokers - download here
All in a Zip - download here
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love ;) x
